Here is another entry in the F.I.T.S. (Freelancer In The Spotlight) Series on Wording Well.

The “Freelancer In The Spotlight” today is Deevra Norling.

Deevra started off with a national diploma in public relations and what followed was a varied career path that included a short stint at Reader’s Digest as editor of the staff newsletter, followed by many years working as an executive assistant in the non-profit sector, before moving back into the corporate world as a marketing brand manager.

Now please welcome Deevra Norling to center stage.

Take it away, Deevra!

Why I Took the Leap into Freelancing

Misery. Well, that’s what drove me to quit my job and find another way to live. I hated working for a boss, the 9-5, the office politics, performance appraisals, driving to the same place and sitting at the same desk every day. I am a free spirit and that means I like doing my own thing. Freedom is important to me. Read More

Today’s “Freelancer In The Spotlight” is Corinne Kerston. You’re going to learn a lot from her, so get ready to dive in!

Take it away, Corinne!

How I Stumbled Into the Freelancing Field

For someone who grew up writing poems and reading all the time, I actually stumbled into freelance writing by chance.

I graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in English, and immediately began applying anywhere and everywhere. I landed a job as an accountant for a local Property Management company. Because that makes sense, right? I won’t be all dramatic and say I was miserable, because I wasn’t. I was earning a steady paycheck and I was satisfied.

And then I had kids and my outlook completely changed.

After I had my first child in 2007, I continued to work full-time. But I felt like I was missing everything. I missed her first steps, her first words. So when I became pregnant with my 2^nd child, I decided I would stay home.

I still had no idea that I could write for a living. I know … I don’t have a clue how I didn’t figure this out yet. I began looking at work-at-home jobs. I knew a medical transcriptionist who worked from home, and I thought that was a viable option.

Then I met a freelance writer on a cloth-diapering forum of all places. I was intrigued! I had my “duh Corinne!” moment, wondered why I hadn’t thought of writing before and messaged her about her career. I wanted to know more! She had a webinar on breaking into ghostwriting and she offered it to me for free.

See, I told you I totally stumbled into this career by chance. And I’m so grateful I did.

Beginning My Freelancing and Writing Career

I started writing for a few clients in late 2010 shortly before my son was born. By the time he was born, I had a couple blogging clients and I was writing for some content mills. The money wasn’t great, but hey, I was earning money and staying home with my kids. I was ecstatic.

Since then, I’ve grown as an online writer, as a blogger, as a marketer and a business person. I have ditched the content mills for good. I even self-published a few eBooks, including Start Your Freelance Writing Career: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started Working From Home.

Here are some of the gems I have learned along the way.

Top 5 Freelancing Tips from Corinne

1: Pick a Niche.

In the freelancing world, there are generalists and there are specialists. I find generalizing may open you up to a whole bunch of different types of clients, but specializing allows you to command higher rates. To pick a niche, look at what you are good at, things you enjoy and areas you have experience in.

2: Have a website.

I can’t stress this enough. Have a website! It’s essential. How else are you going to show potential clients how great your writing it? While you are at it, how about adding a blog? A blog can act as your samples, but also as helps with traffic and getting readers to your site.

3: Get samples up right away.

Even if you’re just starting out, you can find samples. Use old papers you wrote, write free reports, self-publish articles on article submission sites, or do pro bono work. Yes, you won’t be getting paid for your writing at this point, but you will build a great portfolio so that you will land those money-paying jobs.

4: Don’t be afraid to ask what you’re worth.

‘Cause you are worth it.

Don’t get in the mindset of comparing yourself to other writers or other bloggers, because you’re not them. If you know your writing is worth it, set your asking price fairly high. Of course, use some business common sense. If you’re just breaking into an industry and have no experience whatsoever, you can’t very well ask $200 a blog post. But, once you have established yourself as a writer, earned some street cred, you can most certainly raise your prices.

5: Get it in writing.

Contracts are gold when you freelance. I have learned this hard way. Contracts don’t only protect you, but they also protect your client. You can easily write up a simple contract yourself, just make sure that you include things like your agreed-upon price and payment terms, what you will be writing, how many words, when you are expected to turn it in, if any edits are included and any other expectations. Make it impossible for the client to spring extra work on your without renegotiating your contract. Include privacy and rights to content clauses to protect your clients and a contract is a win-win for everyone.

Now it’s your turn:

How did you break into freelance writing?

Did you always dream of writing as a career or did you just stumble into it, too?

Corinne’s freelancing “must haves” are samples, a website, and a contract. What are yours?

Share your thoughts, story, and/or answers in the comments, and please thank Corinne publicly for sharing her awesomeness with us!

Corinne Kerston is a professional writer and blogger. She is also a mom, wife, chef, chauffeur, nurse and whatever else her family needs her to be at the moment. Check out her Kindle book about breaking into freelance writing, Start Your Freelance Writing Career: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started Working From Home. Connect with her on her website or Twitter.

Ali Luke is the “Freelancer In The Spotlight” today, as part of the F.I.T.S. (Freelancer In The Spotlight) Series on Wording Well.

She’s been freelancing for years, has created many wonderful things for writers and bloggers (including a membership site and some e-books), and is my special guest this week.

We’re lucky to have her here, and I would love it if you’d take a moment right now to show her some appreciation for being here by Tweeting the following message.

Now please welcome Ali Luke to center stage.

Take it away, Ali!

How Ali Got Involved in Freelance Writing

I started freelancing by accident. Six years in, I’m still going strong.

Back at the start of 2008, I’d launched a blog that – rather naïvely – I hoped would quickly gather hordes of readers and bring in loads of money.

Of course, the reality was a little different:  it took me eleven months to get my first Google AdSense cheque from that blog.

But early on, I tried guest posting to get more traffic. The very first blog I wrote for happened to be looking for paid writers. I still remember how I felt when I got an email from the editor asking if I’d like to write a couple of posts a week for them, at $20 a post. I hadn’t even realized freelance blogging existed and – even though I charge a lot more these days – I was delighted by the money I could earn.

Of course, I was lucky. Freelancing jobs don’t normally appear in your inbox just like that (as I found over the next few months and years), but gradually, I built up my freelancing work, and was able to quit my day job about six months after getting that first paying gig.

Since then, I’ve added extra income streams, too – ones that don’t just get me paid per hour. I sell a series of Blogger’s Guide e-books and run a teaching/community site for writers, Writers’ Huddle. In the past, I’ve also worked one-on-one with writers as a coach, and run stand-alone e-courses. Read More

I’m continuing the F.I.T.S. (Freelancer In The Spotlight) Series on Wording Well, and the “Freelancer In The Spotlight” today is Brian Morris, who is also an author!

Now please welcome Brian Morris to center stage. 😉

Take it away, Brian!

Focus On the Noose

“Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight,” Samuel Johnson once said, “it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”

But frequently, we don’t get that much warning.

A couple of years ago, I worked for a local utility company.  One day, I was called into a meeting with the regional head of HR who told me what a terrific employee I was, what great knowledge I brought to the job and hoped that I could find another job where I could use 11 years worth of crazy mad office skills.

With the gallows looming (loss of income, loss of house, loss of a reason to put on my trousers every weekday), I knew it was time to go from part-time writing dilettante to full-time freelancing.

I liked the idea of a direct link between my efforts and my rewards and of being my own boss.  The idea of not having to put on trousers or shave ever day was appealing too, but that’s another issue.  Also, if I wrote some books, the books would sell online while I slept.  The idea of a passive income stream was VERY appealing.

A couple of years later, I’ve now got a couple of books out, writing two more, waiting on one to be formatted and published, and working towards publishing another written by a friend.  I also have a Facebook page where I encourage my friends to take up writing seriously and share information.  Of course I do this with my copious amounts of spare time because at the time I’m writing this, I’m also moving into another time zone and trying to rectify everything I’ve neglected to take care of in the old home.

Read More

This week, the “Freelancer In The Spotlight” today is Harleena Singh.

First, a few words from me… about Harleena

Harleena Singh is a freelance writer and blogger. She loves to write on a diversity of topics on her multi-niche life blog, Aha!NOW, which focuses on self-development and self-help with an aim to help you bring happiness into your life.

But she’s so much more than that. She’s also a mom, a teacher, and a truly awesome person!

Harleena Singh is a qualified teacher and started her career as a classroom teacher in private schools. She has a graduate degree in Commerce, postgraduate degree in English, and a professional degree in Education.

Harleena has also served as an administrator of a small private school, where she polished her management and organizational skills. It was after her stint as a full-time working teacher and manager that she decided to stay at home and start freelance writing, with the aim to be there for her growing kids.

~ excerpt taken from Harleena Singh, The Commenting Superstar & Proficient Writer!

Take it away, Harleena!

Thank you, Lorraine, for this wonderful opportunity to share my story with your readers, and although it’s nothing much, but perhaps it might help someone. 🙂

*Her modesty is one of the things I love about Harleena. 😉

My story, background, and how I got into freelancing

For me, it was routine to teach English to primary and elementary school children. I enjoyed imparting knowledge to the young ones, which was not limited to the grammar and literature of the foreign language.

My brief tenure as a teacher was one of my best life experiences. Though teaching came naturally to me, as part of professional teaching, I had to plan my lessons, execute them effectively, and look after the all-round development of the children.

However, I could not carry on teaching in schools for a long time. I had previously acted as the administrator of a small school, which was interesting and enjoyable too, but unfortunately, I had to leave that job because it demanded too much of my time. More so, I wanted to spend quality time with my growing kids and be there for them.

I did not want them to compromise in any way with their studies, so I decided to stay at home and look for some challenging job that interested me, something that didn’t require me to step out of my house.

It was then that my sister informed me about freelance writing that she was doing, and asked if I wanted to join as well. My sister is a good writer and unlike me, always scribbles lines of poetry or short stories, and has, ever since she was in school. In fact, I believe, we both inherited the writing genes from our mother, who also loved writing and had a flair for it. Now, even my Dad writes, though mainly for papers and journals – so it runs in our family! 🙂

I initially hesitated and doubted if I could at all write, not having written for years. I mean the writing I used to do in school and college was completely different from that required by the clients. You can call it the “commercial” writing. Nevertheless, I went ahead and started with freelance writing, though initially, I kept my rates quite low.

I gradually learned the art of researching and writing articles on topics given to me by the clients, which also included keyword research.

Not surprisingly, I loved freelance writing and had fun completing my assignments, which my clients appreciated a lot. That was a few years down the lane. Since then, I worked day and night on my writing assignments and improved my writing skills. Most of my clients were American so perhaps that helped me further.

My clients asked for SEO and keyword-rich articles. So, first I had to find out what these terms were and I “Googled” about them to reach to the right resource sites. Google has been my best friend and guide in doing research for all the articles and even the blog posts that I write.

4 Main Lessons Learned

The lessons I learned during my initial days of freelance writing helped me become proficient in my work and make a name for myself in the freelancing world. I will enumerate a few of them hoping they will help the newbie freelancers.

1: Planning is platinum

It is very important to chalk out or plan your workday and the assignments to meet the deadlines. No matter what, writers and even bloggers need to respect deadlines. You need to remember that your clients or readers will not pay heed to your reasons, which will merely be excuses for them. Planning is precious.

2: Research is golden

Pour yourself wholly into the research of your topic and drench yourself fully with the knowledge such that every word you write drips off information, and make it worthy to read. A well-researched article will even eclipse an article written by a literary expert when it comes to commercial writing. Read More